Alone L4D2
by AmbidextrousSeal
Summary: Nick is dying. Ellis is losing it. Rochelle and Coach aren't entirely sure they care.


Blood. There was so much blood. It was everywhere. A small amount of it was from the minor injuries sustained by all four of the survivors, but the vast majority of it was flooding from the ragged gash in Nick's throat.

The gambler tried again to take a deep breath, which only resulted in another series of horrible coughs, each of which temporarily intensified the flow of blood in the man's neck. His arms lay limp at his side as he lay flat on his back on the cold concrete floor.

Ellis was crouched beside his older friend, extreme concern and fear screamed by every simple movement he made. He soon dropped to his knees, rocking back onto his heels as he felt tears start to well up in his eyes. He was coming to terms with the fact that Nick probably wasn't going to make it. There was nothing he could do, either; none of them had any first-aid kits or any kind of medical equipment. Trying to staunch the flow of blood through pressure had only resulted in agonized screaming from the injured survivor.

Ellis could feel tears starting to streak his face as he tried to find the breath to speak. Rochelle took a breath on the far side of the room as if to speak, but the young man cut her off. "Don't."

"Ellis-"

"Don't you start either, Coach."

Nick fixed his deadened eyes on Ellis, managing a slight grin through the blood trailing from his mouth. "You're not usually this snappy with them. That's my job." Every word he spoke caused more blood to flow from his throat wound, and his voice was rough and low, but he didn't seem to care about any of this.

"Don't- don't try and talk. You're gonna pull through this, I know you are."

Nick chuckled, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "When are you gonna learn, kid? The world's not that kind. I'm dying, and you know it."

A badly muffled sob escaped Ellis as he spontaneously clutched Nick to his chest, keeping his arms secured so tightly around his friend that it was like he was trying to protect him from something. Nick managed to work an arm around Ellis as well, speaking to him quietly. "You're gonna be alright. Rochelle and Coach'll look after you."

"I don't /need/ looking after! I just-" He cut himself off with another wail before continuing in a slightly lower voice. "...I just don't know what I'm gonna do without you..." The young man didn't even seem to care about the blood soaking into his clothes.

"I do. You're gonna keep going, and you're gonna get out of here alive. Hear me? You're gonna do it."

"But-"

"No buts. You've gotta do it. Do it for me."

"But I don't want to leave without you!" This time Ellis raised his voice to something near a yell.

"You have to." Every time he spoke Nick's voice got a little quieter, and by now it was noticeable. His movements were weaker, and his gaze was dull and unfocused.

Ellis went silent except for his quiet sobbing, muffled by Nick's shoulder. With a subtle groan of pain, Nick lowered himself back onto the ground. Ellis made no move to stop him or let go, just kept clinging to him as he lay beside his friend. Nick buried his fingers in Ellis' hair, eyes fixed on the ceiling and free arm folded over his chest.

"It's okay, kid. You'll be fine."

"But-"

"Shhhh. Quiet."

A stifled snicker sounded from the side of the room the Coach and Rochelle were on. Ellis tipped his head up, glaring at them with tears still running down his face as he heard Rochelle mutter under her breath, "Gaaaaaay."

"SHUT UP! I'M NOT GAY!"

Suddenly Nick burst out laughing, the loudest sound he'd made since he'd gotten his throat torn open. It was still rough, but it sounded so full of life that, for a moment, Ellis would have believed that he really was okay. Then he glanced down at the wound again and the amount of blood flowing from it filled him with dread once more as he clung even tighter to Nick.

"S- shut the fuck up..." He buried his face in the older man's chest, pulling his legs in closer to himself.

"Chin up, kid. Nothing to be ashamed of." Nick had caught his breath rather quickly, and was now back to his voice becoming ever quieter. At this point it was hardly a whisper, and his hand loosened and fell to the floor. Ellis tilted his head up immediately, horror spoken by his stiff movements.

"No! You can't leave me here!" He started crying harder, his words hardly intelligible through his shaky voice and intermittant sobs. "Please don't leave me alone..."

Nick grinned again, finding the strength to gently take hold of Ellis's head with one hand and pull him in, kissing him lightly on the lips before letting himself drop back to the floor. His eyes slowly started to drift shut as he whispered, "G'bye, Ellis."

Just as Ellis reached up to touch Nick's face, his entire body went limp. Ellis let out a frantic screech of "NO!" and then clung to his dead friend's corpse, crying uncontrollably and repeating the word 'no' under his breath so fast that nobody else could keep up. He was still being soaked by the blood pouring out of Nick's wound, but no life pulsed behind the injury. Just dead force leaving the fluid to drain and pool on the floor.

Rochelle lowered her head and Coach just stared at the wall. Neither made a move to comfort the young man, giving him a chance to just cry it out. Ellis didn't change his behavior, only switched from his repetitve speech to desperately begging Nick to come back. The only thing going through the young man's head was that Nick was gone. He wasn't coming back, he would never be there when Ellis needed him again. And the whole world seemed to break and fall apart in front of his eyes.

It was then that Ellis discovered exactly how cruel the world can be. Exactly what Nick had tried to teach him and the same thing that Ellis had refused to believe. And now he knew.


End file.
